# Piracy and opportunity Author: Paynalton Canonical source: Language: en Original publication:

All around I hear complaints from the big music conglomerates who lament to every wind the losses caused by piracy.

There was a time when the minstrels were free, when they sang to the wind and anyone could sit down to listen from afar, leaving a few coins as a thank you for the beauty of creation.

Today the minstrels are chained with paper fetters, a paper so valuable that they themselves fear breaking them. Today the minstrels no longer sing the sounds of their hearts, but the melodies that will attract more coins for their masters, receiving in return a few more fetters.


The day a musician stops being successful, he is discarded like trash and the big businessman collects his chains to throw them into the great sea of people who want to be famous, hoping to catch a big fish that will earn a lot of money for himself.

But the web is changing things, the rules. More and more minstrels are spreading their melodies through the maze of cables that covers our world and are listened to without asking for any coin.


But more than that, the artists who are chained by contracts and dreams of big profits are also listened to against their will by someone who admires them, loves them, but who will never throw them a coin.

These are the ones, urged by their masters, who seek most to stop what cannot be stopped. They are sent to the front of a battle that is already lost while they collect all the green paper they can before the cataclysm of the music industry arrives. They hoard their profits and wait for the moment to jump to another type of market.

But is there anyone who won't fear that huge wave that roars with the sound of thousands of keyboards? Is there anyone who won't run with money in their arms, look the wave straight in the eye, have no fear, understand it and accept the challenge? Is there someone who is capable of joining the flow that is already coming and use its momentum to pass over those who have already fled?

In reality, it's not that hard to solve things. The company creates a new album expecting to have excellent profits and makes calculations about how much the piracy will cost them.

This visionary comes along and offers a solution that surprises them for its simplicity and low cost.


This character requests that at least two songs from that new album be free to circulate on the web, without persecution or fear. The new album is growing in popularity and is eagerly anticipated by those who have enjoyed those two melodies.

Miles of copies of those two songs are already circulating around the planet, and a week before the album's release, a illegal download begins circulating with the content of that album.

The day of the release arrives, and at the same time as those who want to buy the album, there are those who want to download the entire album for free.

They spend hours downloading, and when the screen indicates 100%, they are ready to enjoy their accomplishment with a smile.

But, oh disappointment! So many hours downloading and only strange sounds are heard, that's not what they wanted to hear.


A new search, a new download, a new disappointment. They don't take long to realize the truth:


That man, with the help of four others, has sabotaged the entire internet and flooded the web with fake downloads of the album. Finding and downloading the latest hit that everyone is already listening to is as simple as finding Osama Bin Laden's postal address on the web.



The sabotage doesn't stop and legal lawsuits begin against the few who have spread real copies of the album.


And even more, those who have obtained an illegal copy are not satisfied, since those who bought it have even more. The album disc is just a small part, since those who bought it have access to more songs from the web, can send a message to the artists with the guarantee that they, personally, will respond as a thank you for buying the album. Some have even obtained free passes to the next concert and a preferred pass so that their disc can be autographed.


While the rest only have a few songs that they spent entire days searching for.


Then, the one who had the vision rises proudly from his work, and after receiving payment for his services, he closes his eyes with a bright gleam while saying:


**Roll!!! I can roll!!! I can feel!!!**
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**I am the Silver Mountain Man!!!**